Academic Research request
5. Appendix E: Joint Student Placement Protocol between Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Agreed University
Background
There is currently a national drive to expand the evidence base available to policing in the UK. One clear factor in this is to develop professional relationships between police services and academic and research institutions.
Developing formal protocols to enable improved joint working between local police services and local students is a means by which the police can be directly involved with research and assessment of interest to policing, whilst also facilitating practical work experience for students and supporting the reach and significance of agreed projects.
There are a number of identifiable benefits to policing services and academic or research institutions, including:
- Improving student/researcher access to 'real time' police data and staff.
- Providing opportunities to students and researchers for professional development and to develop experience relevant to recruitment to the police service.
- Improving links between academia and policing which can result in 'low cost' options for the:
- Provision of some lectures delivered by police staff.
- Provision of cost free research support for potential future academic evaluation within policing.
- Exploitation of opportunities for academic research on policing priorities that have the potential to be translated into practice.
- Exploitation of opportunities to develop joint funding proposals to develop research evidence that will address policing priorities.
- Dissemination of final dissertations, theses or reports and recommendations within policing for implementation or further development where appropriate.
- Facilitating opportunities to develop research further afield via existing police and academic/research networks to support more robust research and project target areas.
In order to ensure effective operation, a joint working protocol for student placement programmes with academic/research students/staff is necessary to:
- Facilitate a central coordination function for both [University] and Cambridgeshire Constabulary in order to best select future areas for research (ideally these should be police driven).
- Co-ordinate applications, supervision and deployment of students from a single point at the [University] and at Cambridgeshire Constabulary to ensure the approach is consistent, efficient and effective (especially important for vetting).
- Facilitate a consistent approach to the supervision of each student by the police.
- Facilitate a systematic approach to capturing, recording and storing all proposed, ongoing and completed research.
- Facilitate consistent briefings for students and police student supervisors that includes the aim of the scheme, an input on evidence based policing, security, vetting and health and safety.
- Facilitate systematic and transparent dissemination of research or project products and a distilling of the key learning and recommendations across the police service.
It is particularly important that selection of the student is conducted fairly, based on ability and the professional judgment of the University supervisors and the police line manager. In particular selection of the student should be considered based on the student's ability to deal with their potential exposure to confidential information or exposure to upsetting or disturbing events. Liability for the continued health and safety, and long-term well-being of the students will remain the primary responsibility of [University] (operational deployment and spontaneous risk assessments will be the responsibility of the police officer or staff supervising the student - students should not be exposed to unnecessary risk).
Once selected, all students must consent to participation on the scheme and must sign a confidentiality agreement, code of conduct agreement and a data sharing agreement that is binding on the student and [University].
Research proposals will be assessed by Cambridgeshire Constabulary via the Organisational Improvement Centre, Change and Research Team. Proposals are subject to approval by the Cambridgeshire Constabulary Change Board. The resources required to engage with the research will be a consideration.
The central coordination function Organisational Improvement Centre, Change and Research Team of Cambridgeshire Constabulary should record all potential research proposals. Once allocated, the agreed project lead within Cambridgeshire Constabulary Change and Research Team shall be responsible for tracking and monitoring the progress of the research.
Once research products have been completed, an electronic version will be sent to the Organisational Improvement Centre, Change and Research Team for storage and dissemination as appropriate.
No publication of the research will be permitted without prior approval of both [University] and Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
Students must be in at least Year 2 of undergraduate studies or be a postgraduate student. It is expected that eligible students will have achieved a minimum 2:2 within their last year of graduate study.
Eligible students will be identified within [University] by their academic supervisor.
Prior to commencement of the placement, a research proposal will be negotiated between the Constabulary, the academic supervisor and the student. This will highlight the specific project(s) that the student will be expected to undertake. It is essential that the student is afforded time to complete the agreed tasks as required for their ongoing assessment by [University].
The final decision on projects will be that of Cambridgeshire Constabulary due to dependencies upon resource availability at any given time.
The length of the placement and working pattern will be agreed between [University] and Cambridgeshire Constabulary. A minimum of 15 days must be worked in a 12 month period to justify investment in vetting the student, the costs of which will be met by the Constabulary.
Placements may take place throughout the county of Cambridgeshire. Placement students will not be eligible for payment, but will be eligible for expenses in line with relevant force policy.
All students must undergo police vetting before a placement is approved. This will take a minimum of three months, and must be completed before any placement is commenced. Further details, including nationality requirements, can be obtained from United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In the event of vetting being declined, applicants will be notified but no details of the reasons will be provided.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary is content, subject to vetting and proposal approval, to facilitate data access, as per the Constabulary’s guidelines. Ethical and legal considerations will need to be adhered to. No identifying information regarding any individual will be given without full written informed consent.
Similarly, personnel within the organisation must be asked to participate via Head of Organisational Improvement Centre (or someone with their written delegated authority) and will only participate after written informed consent has been given.
All researchers should have a line manager AND a police supervisor within Cambridgeshire Constabulary to ensure the integrity of data is maintained and relevant data access can be facilitated. Data will only be disclosed as per relevant policies and remains the property of Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
The terms and conditions as detailed in the 'Non-Disclosure Agreement' must be read and signed by the placement student. Additionally, the terms and conditions of any information sharing agreement must be read and signed by the placement student, academic supervisor, line manager, police supervisor and the.
[University] will be responsible for ensuring the suitability of the research topic for each student/researcher. This is particularly important given the potential nature of any exposure students may have within any policing environment. It is entirely possible researchers may be exposed to material not planned for within the scope of this research. [University] is responsible for ensuring students placed within a police establishment are appropriate and able to cope with such unforeseen exposure.
Students should not ordinarily be deployed on police operations. However where this becomes necessary the police supervisor will be responsible for ensuring a risk assessment has been considered and deployment is appropriate. Any planned meetings with victims, offenders or witnesses should be risk assessed prior to deployment. The relevant police supervisor should be notified in advance of all such deployments to allow a risk assessment to be completed.
[University] will appoint a nominated supervisor who will be responsible for maintaining regular contact, assessing continued suitability of the student and most importantly ensuring the well-being of that person is maintained.
A line manager and police supervisor will be appointed for all student placements. This is particularly important to ensure
- Students are able to gain relevant and necessary data access.
- Data access is controlled as per the information sharing agreement.
- Health and safety of all students is maintained when conducting research within the police service.
It is entirely possible that delegation of data access may fall to other staff members but it is essential the student and police supervisor are fully aware of their responsibilities. Operational health and safety issues however cannot be delegated from the nominated police supervisor unless handed over to another nominated supervisor.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary will be provided with advance notification and advance copies of all publications generated as a result of the placement, as per the academic and research partnership guidelines.
Any project(s) undertaken will be reviewed with respect to their adherence to the University's code of ethics and in light of the policing Code of Ethics. All students are subject to the Research Code of Conduct in Cambridgeshire Constabulary and agreement must be provided to this effect.
The overall governance of student placements is managed by Organisational Improvement Centre, Change and Research Team